Eyes in the clouds: spatial data analysis with gaze-enhanced point clouds

Spatial data analysis is essential in domains such as construction, architecture, and geodesy, to check for differences between construction stages of a building. In this context, real-world environments are often digitally recorded as point clouds, providing a basis for digital processing and analysis. Furthermore, aspects of spatial cognition, often measured with eye tracking, are also relevant to many research questions related to how people perceive and understand space and spatial structures, e.g., in quality inspection of construction sites or buildings. We present a workflow to combine eye tracking and point cloud data to analyze user attention during inspection of spatial data in virtual environments. This type of data enrichment enables the deployment of established open-source software for cloud and mesh processing to analyze eye tracking data. Our workflow employs the investigation of point cloud data and simultaneous user gaze recording in virtual reality, followed by point-based gaze data analysis, interactive visualization, and authoring and production of high-quality dissemination materials for stakeholders. We showcase our approach with a usage scenario on how people investigate the construction of a pavilion building in virtual reality.